VRT vs. AMD: Which ’Strong Buy’ AI Stock Offers Explosive Growth Potential?
Two AI Titans Battle for Market Dominance
The AI chip race heats up as investors scramble to pick winners in the semiconductor space. Both companies carry 'Strong Buy' ratings, but their paths to growth couldn't be more different.
VRT's Vertical Integration Advantage
Vertical Research's targeted approach slices through traditional manufacturing bottlenecks. Their specialized architecture bypasses legacy constraints that plague broader semiconductor players.
AMD's Broad Market Play
Advanced Micro Devices leverages its established ecosystem to capture multiple AI segments simultaneously. Their scale creates manufacturing efficiencies that smaller players can't match.
The Upside Calculation
Analysts project significant growth for both stocks, but the risk-reward profiles diverge sharply. One offers steady expansion while the other promises breakout potential—if their technology gains traction.
Wall Street's favorite game: recommending all the horses in the race while collecting fees from every bettor. The real question isn't which stock will perform better, but which will make your portfolio actually outperform the market.
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Vertiv Holdings (NYSE:VRT) Stock
Vertiv Holdings offers power, cooling, and IT infrastructure solutions and services to data centers, communication networks, and commercial and industrial facilities. VRT stock has jumped 53% year-to-date, thanks to strong demand for the company’s AI infrastructure that is required in data centers. VRT stock soared recently after the company announced that it has significantly advanced its platform designs for the construction of 800-volt direct current (VDC) to power Nvidia’s (NVDA) 2027 rollout of Rubin Ultra platforms.
Meanwhile, VRT is scheduled to announce its third-quarter earnings on October 22. Wall Street expects Vertiv to report earnings per share (EPS) of $0.98, reflecting a 29% year-over-year growth. Further, revenue is expected to rise 25% to $2.58 billion. It is worth noting that Vertiv has surpassed the Street’s earnings expectations for ten consecutive quarters. In July, VRT reported market-beating Q2 results and raised its full-year guidance.
Is VRT a Good Stock to Buy?
Ahead of the Q3 results, several analysts have raised their price targets for Vertiv Holdings stock, thanks to AI-induced tailwinds. For instance, RBC Capital analyst Deane Dray increased his price target for Vertiv stock to $191 from $162 and reaffirmed a Buy rating as part of a Q3 earnings preview for stocks in the industrials space.
The 5-star analyst noted multiple multi-year sector drivers, such as electrification, reshoring, as well as data centers and AI. Moreover, he expects the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts to fuel continued mid-cycle growth and strong earnings visibility. Dray added that “tariffs remain a fluid but manageable headwind for now.”
Overall, Wall Street has a Strong Buy consensus rating on Vertiv Holdings stock based on 15 Buys, two Holds, and one Sell recommendation. The average VRT stock price target of $170.47 indicates a 2% possible downside from current levels.
Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) Stock
Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices’ stock has rallied more than 46% over the past month and 93% year-to-date. Investors are impressed by the company’s new AI GPUs (graphics processing units) and strategic deals. Notably, AMD announced its game-changing deal with OpenAI (PC:OPAIQ) to deploy 6 gigawatts of AMD Instinct GPUs over multiple years, beginning with a 1-gigawatt rollout in 2026.
The company then announced a major partnership with Oracle (ORCL), under which Oracle Cloud Infrastructure will deploy 50,000 AMD MI450 GPUs, starting in the second half of 2026. AMD’s new GPU offerings and these significant partnerships have boosted confidence in the company’s ability to compete with Nvidia in the AI chips race and drive higher revenue and profitability.
Is AMD Stock a Buy or Sell Now?
Recently, Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson raised his price target for AMD stock to $270 from $190 and reiterated a Buy rating ahead of the company’s third-quarter results. The 5-star analyst noted that over the last quarter, AMD has provided certainty around GPU demand by signing new agreements (mainly OpenAI and Oracle deals) that WOULD substantially boost its GPU revenues.
While the analyst increased his H2 2026 data center GPU/AI estimates, he highlighted that his estimate for AMD’s total AI data center revenues in 2026 remains close to $10 billion as he expects it to take “somewhat longer” for the company to boost its revenues. That said, for 2027, Bryson expects the chipmaker to deliver a notable portion of a gigawatt of capacity to OpenAI, with AI-related revenues expanding to $20 billion. Even after considering higher operating expenses in the out years, Bryson significantly increased his EPS estimate for calendar year 2027 to $9.
Overall, Wall Street has a Strong Buy consensus rating on Advanced Micro Devices stock based on 30 Buys and 10 Holds. The average AMD stock price target of $250.22 indicates 7.4% upside potential.
Conclusion
Wall Street is bullish on both Vertiv Holdings and Advanced Micro Devices stocks. However, currently, analysts see higher upside potential in AMD stock, while they see a downside risk in VRT. The demand for AMD’s AI chips looks promising based on the massive deals that the company has secured. Interestingly, AMD stock scores a “Perfect 10” smart score, implying that the stock has the ability to outperform the broader market over the long term.
